Bluffton tops Earlham College 92-83

Preps for Holiday Tournament

The Bluffton College men's basketball team improved its record to 5-4 Monday night with a 92-83 win over Earlham College in Founders Hall. Junior center Jeremy Roberts (Bucyrus, Wynford HS) scored 16 points in the first half on his way to a game-high 27 points.

Bluffton will now prepare for the second annual McDonald's of Bluffton Holiday Tournament set to tip-off in Founders Hall December 29 and 30. The guests will be Grove City College (1-6 overall, from Grove City, PA), Mount Union College (3-5 overall, from Alliance, OH) and North Central College (4-4 overall, from Naperville, IL).

"I think we've got a real quality Division III tournament this year," said BC Head Coach Guy Neal, noting that the four teams come from three states and all different conferences. "The three visiting teams have good players, have good programs and are very well coached," he continued. "The quality of basketball has the makings for a great holiday tournament."

Bluffton played in Mount Union's tip-off tournament last year and will travel to Illinois to play in North Central's tip-off tournament next season.

And speaking of quality basketball, the Beavers displayed just that against the Quakers on Monday night. Bluffton shot a blistering 60% from the field was even better from beyond the arc at 62%.

Bluffton went on a 9-0 run in the first half to take control of the game and went up by as many as 14 in the second half.

Roberts was one of four BC players in double figures, as the junior also had five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Junior Ben Coole (Butler, Clear Fork HS) hit for 21 points and collected a game-high seven rebounds, while sophomore Travis Elsass (Wapakoneta, Jackson Center HS) added 14 points.

Junior Chris Sheldon (Bucyrus, Wynford HS) dished out six assists and was a perfect 3-3 from three-point land and 4-4 from the free throw line for 13 points.